Green Heron

Green Heron - Rare and Local

Green Heron

The Green Heron normally spends its summers in the US from the Canadian border southward and from the mid-west to the eastern seaboard.  There is also a population on the west coast from Puget Sound to California.  Some winter in Florida, coastal Georgia, South Carolina, California, southern Texas and Louisiana.  Most Green Herons winter in Mexico, Venezuela, Panama and the West Indies.  But every year we have a handful who spend their summers in New Brunswick.  I have seen them on Grand Manan and along the St. John River at various times.

The Green Heron is our smallest heron, 46 cm/18 in long.  It is even smaller than the Cattle Egret.  It is very dark overall in colour, stocky, thick necked and it has short yellow legs.  In flight its wings are broad and rounded.  It has a crest but it is not often seen.  Its colours are subtle but beautiful if you happen to see it in good light.  The crown is black, the sides of the head and neck are rufous.  It has a white-streaked chin, throat and breast.  The eyes are yellow and it has a dark yellow bill.  The back, rump and tail are dark green.  The belly is gray.  Both genders look alike.

Green Heron

When you are lucky enough to see a Green Heron, it is usually alone.  A solitary bird is the norm.  It is always in wet habitats, either fresh or salty.  It prefers woody areas and likes to perch on branches which hang over the water.  It feeds on small fish and aquatic invertebrates.  The only other wader you might mistake it for is the Least Bittern but it has a white scapular line and bright buffy wing coverts.

Green Heron [Internet Photo]

The Green Heron population is subdivided into 4 subspecies.  Two of these occur in North America; one along the west coast and one along the east coast.

It is my experience that when you encounter a Green Heron, it sees you first and what you first see is a startled bird taking off close to you in thick vegetation, emitting a hair-raising squawk.  Apparently its song is a sharp, croaking 'qua qua'.  This species nests in trees near water 1 to 10 metres off the ground.  The nest is made of sticks and leaves.  The 2 to 7 pale green eggs are incubated for 19 to 21 days.  The chicks fledge in about 16 days.  There are records of it breeding in New Brunswick.

The Green Heron is one of the few herons that have learned to use tools to obtain food.  They place a small bright object (leaf, bread, piece of a feather, small piece of fish) on the surface and wait quietly for a fish to investigate it.  They then grab the fish and get an easy meal!  I have watched Green Herons do this in South Carolina.  An interesting species!

Green Herons tend to wander after the breeding season.  Occasionally some end up as far away as England and France.  Maybe that is how they got here in the first place.